Green Manures

• Green undecomposed plant materials used as manure into the soil for the purpose of improving soil physical, chemical and biological environments is called green manure and the process is called green manuring.
• Annual leguminous crops as well as green leaves, twigs or succulent stems of non-leguminous perennial trees or shrubs are used for green manuring.

Advantages and disadvantages of green manuring

Advantages of Green manuring

1. It helps to add organic matter in the soil.
2. Return the nutrients on the upper soil layer from the lower surface of soil.
3. Improve the physical properties (aeration, structures, water holding capacity etc) of soil.
4. It decreases the soil erosion, runoff and help to penetrate the rain water.
5. Green manuring crops hold nutrients (macro and micro) that would otherwise be lost by leaching.

Disadvantages of green manuring

1. Green manuring needs sufficient water during incorporation for proper decomposition.
2. Green manuring crops (in situ) causes loss of one crop.
3. The cost of green manuring may be more than the cost of commercial N fertilizer.
4. It may increase the problems of diseases, insects, pest and nematodes.
5. Altitudinal limitation and germination problems are also observed in some green manuring species.